


Miss Me?

by vensnamed



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: M/M, what is this you ask? i have no idea myself
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 14:06:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7895545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vensnamed/pseuds/vensnamed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the boss has been out in the field for too long and has barely set foot on mother base to relax and give the missions a break. Kaz is beginning to miss Snake but doesn't know how exactly to tell it to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Miss Me?

This is how “normal” routine went. Snake stops by mother base only to shower himself from the residue of dry blood and dirt attached to his uniform, go over some reports with Kaz and/or Ocelot, salute some of the soldiers down his path, and back again out into the field. He barely even has time to relax before going off accepting another mission Kaz has left for him on his iDroid. It's just mission after mission. Not that it's a bad thing since they do need the GMP to keep up with their resources.

Not to mention Diamond Dogs as their organization is beginning to grow larger, so they also got to keep in mind with the development of more bases, soldiers needs, supplies, etc..

There were some moments here and there when Snake and Kaz kept in contact, but most were good-lucks when leaving straight off to a mission as they gazed at one another when departing from the helipad. The rest of their time together were via iDroid. Even the soldiers back at mother base saw their boss more often than Kaz since he's usually stuffed in his office with paperwork and reports. There were days when the commander barely slept or even left the office to eat at least something in the mess hall without his mind being focused on nothing but paperwork.

Venom forced Kaz by all means if it was the only way to get him out of that office to ease off that stress of working overtime and overusing his body like that. But because the boss was barely on mother base, Kaz paid little to no attention to his own health and rather attended to the needs of keeping Diamond Dogs stabilized in running. Really, the only reliance on Kaz's well being was the boss himself who always questioned or so reminded him to be eating and taking breaks. Without him, Kaz is just too consumed in his own world that his only objective was work and more work.

Snake has ordered some of Kaz's guards to keep watch of their commander and make sure he's eating well enough and not overworking himself as usually, but they're always dismissed with a, “don't bother me I'm working.” Which his tone is growled to a commanding officer's full potential of shutting his men up and know not to mess with him which they scurry off with shivers down their spine since they're quite scared of Kaz. The only other person Snake could rely on to keep in check with the commander was Ocelot himself. If Kaz wouldn't listen to anyone else on base, Ocelot was the only option.

As much as Kaz despised that Russian, he had no other choice but to listen to get the man to stop bothering him and keep from becoming even more irritated and boiled up. Of course, Ocelot only does so when his boss tells him to check up on their X.O.. But even so Ocelot always had his concerns on Kaz and took the liberty of checking up on him when he hasn't seen the man wander around their base. Nonetheless eat during lunch breaks at the mess hall. Or even checking up with recruits during their training sessions and attendance schedules.

*

Night had begun to fall and Snake was out on a mission in Africa. Lucky it wasn't a difficult mission that required much surveillance and cautious movements. Of course, his guard was always heightened whether the mission seemed like a breeze or not. But it was a simple pick up of a skilled soldier that could be of great use and asset to Diamond Dogs out in an outpost which four other guards were there with him.

Snake decided to take this mission solo. He was up on a hill top, lying flat on his stomach which he made sure he was surrounded with enough bushes to keep him disguised while sniping his way to the objective. His sneaking suit helped keep him easily camouflaged with nature around along with the starry night, so it was difficult for the enemy to spot him with their NVG even if they tried during this night. It took some time and patience to take note of their routine to get them one by one when separated enough from their comrades, but he successfully tranquilized each one down.

Snake's vision wasn't the best at night without his NVR. But lucky enough were the lighting below the enemy's outpost was enough for him to spot them better without having to use the goggles. All that could be heard were the faint crackling of fires dancing freely and quietly in the night. And the faint conversations some of the soldiers would have below to try and keep themselves distracted from boredom to make it through their shift.

After what seemed to be an hour, Snake was finally able to rest more assured as all of the enemies were tranqued and fast asleep. They were all scattered on the rather damp ground, half lying on their stomachs and the other half on their backs. Sighing, Snake slipped the strap of his sniper rifle onto his shoulder to his back while picking himself up off the earth to stretch out his muscles. They felt a bit sore from lying down during that period of time, so stretching them should help relieve some tension he held in them. He rolled his shoulders before raising both arms high above his head until a muffled pop was felt which he lowered them with a satisfied groan.

He took one last glance around his surroundings as well as the enemies below to make sure no one else is coming before making his way down the hill to fulton the soldier. While Snake walked down the hill with caution, a slight buzzing was heard. Soon enough he felt the buzzing go off around his waist which he unstrapped his iDroid from his belt and raised it to see what it was. Pressing his thumb down onto the side button, a neon blue translucent holographic screen came up which revealed an incoming call.

It was Kaz. Accepting the call, he placed the iDroid back on the hook of his belt and brought his two flesh digits to his ear piece.

“Boss, how are things going so far?”

 _Strange._ It's _rare_ for Kaz to be asking concerns or even calling him in the middle of a mission. More so knows to leave him be till he has the confirmation from Snake himself from a call via iDroid to be talking to him freely. The only times Kaz does ever call like this is either: there's something going on his mind which he needs a distraction, something serious which can't be prolonged and needs to be heard out, or an emergency.

Or at least, wants to hear his voice again.

“I'm just about to extract him. I tranqued all the soldiers at the outpost. Everything is fine. Why?” Snake had finally arrived to the outpost and towards the highly skilled soldier  lifelessly lying on the ground near the small shack that came along with the outpost. He knelt down while stringing out the fulton pack and began prepping it onto the conscious man below him.

“I just wanted a status update of your mission. And…” _I want you back here. I miss you._ Those were Kaz's unspoken words he just couldn't bring himself to say. Then again, what was he thinking? Why did he have to go calling in the first place to say something so idiotic and selfish like that? He was hesitating to call him at first and with a small slip, his thumb happened to press the button and it was too late to back down now. It wasn’t like him. This wasn’t Kaz to go off and just call Snake telling him to come back home and spend time with him. He had a job to do out there. They all had jobs to do and spending time together wasn't one of them.

“And?” Snake rose a brow at Kaz's trailed words. It seemed something was going through his XO’s mind. But he just couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly. Not yet at least. He just about finished prepping the fulton pack. Snake securely clipped the hook onto the soldier before taking a couple steps back and watched the bulbous balloon inflate towards the air. Soon enough the balloon raised even higher and sprinted up towards the sky which disappeared into the clouds with the unconscious soldier. _Mission accomplished._

From the other side of the call, Kaz heard the faint ruffling of the fulton being handled before it flew off into the air. “Extracted him already? Great work, Boss. We'll make sure he comes back in one piece.”

“You still haven't answered my question. What else were you going to say?”

“It's nothing. I was just—”

“Are you sure it's nothing, Kaz?” After giving himself the cue that the coast was clear, Snake began to make his way out of sight from the outpost and into the forest ahead of his path.

“Will you let me finish?” Kaz's slight annoyed sigh was heard from over his earpiece which Snake couldn’t help but slightly smile at. Its been awhile since the two of them got a chance to sit down and have an actual conversation with one another. And it felt nice to hear Kaz's voice again.

Snake's silence gave him the cue to continue. “As I was saying, I think it's best you take a break from missions. Starting tomorrow. You're overworking yourself, Boss. I've taken account for the GMP we have and we can rest assure for a while. We have enough so you can take it easy.” There wasn’t any reason for his boss to be overworking himself with these missions now that he’s taken account of their resources. They have just enough to be rest assured for a couple days depending how wisely they spend it, right?

“What's this about?”

“Excuse me?”

“You don't usually call me during a mission to tell me to take a break—” his words were cut off from Kaz snapping at him and drew the line of letting his boss finish his words.

“You know what? Forget I even called.” Kaz couldn’t hold in the growling tone and exasperated sigh after.

“Kaz, wait.” He had to think of something quick to try and hault Kaz from dismissing the call. Knowing his temper, that man will end the call right away without any second thoughts if he wasn't in a pleasant mood.

“I missed hearing your voice.”

Right when Kaz placed his thumb against the button on the side of his iDroid to end the call, he paused. _He missed my voice? What the hell is he talking about, we talk each day over the iDroid. He’s joking, right?_ There was a moment of silence. All Kaz did was stare at his iDroid. His lips were drawn into a straight line. Teeth grinding against each other behind shut lips. The grip on his iDroid was stiff before it loosened from the words that rolled off of his boss' tongue which replayed in his mind like a cassette tape on rewind. _I missed hearing your voice..._ Especially the low tone he heard him say it. Those words felt genuinely distant. But he could just be imagining it. He shut his eyes and tried to shake it off.

Venom, on the other hand had a small smile  lingering across his lips. _I caught him just in time from hanging up._

The only thing that could be heard were the faint crunching footsteps Snake took as he stepped over dried leaves scattered on the earthy floor. Some squelching like noises could be heard as well from small puddles he stepped into since the earth below was a bit damp from the small shower that happened couple hours ago. Even the echoed calls of some wild birds that sang during the night were taken note of.

All that was going through Snake's mind now was what were Kaz's true intentions of calling him? How long will he stay quiet? He really stunned the guy after saying those words. Shrugging it off, Venom decided to take a small break from walking as he leaned against a tree to pull out his phantom cigar with his flesh hand from one of his packs on his belt.

He placed the electronic device between his lips to gently bite the end between his teeth to use the same hand and bring his iDroid towards the tip to light it up. With a flicker of his thumb, a small but fiery blue flame flashed on from the back of his iDroid which began to light the tip. He waited a couple seconds to get the tip burning before raising his bionic hand to take the cigar between his fingers and take a couple puffs for the smoke to begin while putting away his iDroid with the other. Quietly did Venom inhale, absorbing the fumes into his cavern as it ghostly danced through his throat and deep into his lungs before removing the cigar and smoothly exhaled.

Smoking his phantom cigar sometimes helped ease his nerves when he needed it. Or the phantom pain that would start up from time to time. As well as the shrapnel thrusted deep in his skull which can be a nuisance here and there with the uninvited migraines. Just like right now while Kaz still hasn't spilled a single word or even ended the call on him, consuming the fumes of his cigar will help him ease off and keep his composure.

Kaz was still silent. All he did was sit there and quietly listen to the faint noises Snake was making on the other end. He even noticed that he was already smoking his phantom cigar from the quiet exhales he heard.

If Kaz wasn't going to say something, he might as well start up the conversation again.

“I appreciate your concern, Kaz.”

“You sure? Or is it _unusual_ of me to even have concern for you.” Kaz put a bit of emphasis in his words with a combined tone of annoyance.

“You know that's not what I meant.” Kaz quietly scoffed at his words. Snake was stargazing while taking a moment with smoking his phantom cigar before he noticed a different noise coming out of the line. He heard faint scratch like noises on the other end. Like a fingernail scraping against sandpaper. That just gave the cue that Kaz is sitting in his office writing down reports or maybe signing paperwork.

Venom smiled at the thought and imagined Kaz sitting at his office working his way through stacks of paper. He decided he was done consuming his cigar, taking one last inhale he pulled the cigar away from his lips to exhale. Quietly watching as the white fumes ghostly danced in the starry night before slowly dissipating and blending in with the air. He turned his cigar off and stuffed it back into its designated pack.

“I should be the one telling you to take it easy and rest.”

“And leave all this paperwork to just pile up even more? I'll pass.”

“Kaz.” Snake's tone became slightly lower with a bit of gravel mixed into it. But he smiled his words.

“No one else handles the paperwork but me. I can handle it. How else have I been surviving this?”

“I'll help you with them.”

“I don't need your help, I can do this on my own. I've been doing fine ever since,” Kaz exclaims with a bit of annoyance added in his tone. Though it was quite subtle. He never was the kind of man to accept help from someone right off the bat. Even if it was the boss himself.

“Kaz…” Kaz never liked to accept anyone's help. He never wanted sympathy from others that just because he lost some limbs doesn't mean he can't handle the work. He didn't want to be looked down upon. He had a reputation of being the XO Commander after all. No matter what, he had to stay strong and be tough.

“I'll accept taking the day off if you also take the day off with me. Leave the papers alone and we'll both take it easy. Together.”

Kaz stopped working with his pen before placing it on the desk as he thought to himself. Snake could hear Kaz's rather defeated sigh from the other end of the line.

“Boss, you need it more than I—”

“Kaz,” Snake's tone had been lowered to a more demanding tone. It wasn't a matter of questioning now. It was an order. “You need it as much as I do. You're always working in your office. I need you in good health as well. You can't always overwork yourself, there's always time for some breaks.”

Hearing his boss’ tone sent slight shivers down his spine. Once the demand card was placed down, there was no fighting it and he just had to accept his defeat. “Fine,” Kaz quietly growled. “I'll "take it easy,"” he emphasized the words. “Just come back already, will you?”

“Is this your way of telling me you miss me, Kaz?” Snake just smiled to himself. That had to be the main reason why Kaz started this whole conversation. Even though Kaz didn't explicitly say it, it was more implied hidden with his manner of words. Kaz was like a mind puzzle. His mannerism in choice of words can be deceiving. You just can’t take what is given, but to take in beyond what was truly given to you. With due time, Venom was slowly able to read Kaz like an open dictionary.

Snake decided his break was over and continued to cautiously stroll through the forest again. He reached for his iDroid to send Pequod the coordinates of his location to pick him up at the LZ.

Kaz grit his teeth at Snake's words but soon relaxed his jaw to lightly smile. _I do_. “Don't be an idiot. I already have to deal with you every day, how could I possibly miss you?” He let out a rather small yet hearty laugh.

Snake laughed back. “Doesn’t seem like you can get enough of it, can you?”

“Boss, you’re embarrassing yourself. Shut up and just focus on getting back to mother base. I’ll be waiting for you.”

"Right," he responded with a low chuckle after. With that, the two ended their call session as Snake made his way to the LZ where Pequod would be arriving at eventually. The thought of being able to simmer down and relax even for a while back at base with everyone made his lips form a smile.

There was something he had to do. Snake once again reached for his iDroid to make another call while awaiting Pequod. As he lay low behind large pillars of rocks, he leaned his back against it and brought his two digits to his ear piece. Awaiting for an answer while listening to the faint ringing and static, he looked up and stargazed at a rather clear starry night. Now that the clouds seemed to have flown away from the shower before. Seconds later he finally got an answer.

"Ocelot? Do me a favor..."

**Author's Note:**

> What will happen next....  
> (I don't know how else to explain this so here you guys go. sorry for bad grammar and this probably makes no sense. And I only maybe edit this once and did a skim through so once again I'm sorry if things make no sense and there's poor description with my words... I might re edit this chapter or leave it as is not sure)


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